For years, the biggest video game publishers have operated under the assumption that compelling stories and captivating characters don’t offer a good return on investment.

Few predicted that the smash hit video game of 2023 would feature old-school game mechanics, hours of brooding cutscenes and a vexing learning curve.

Yet “Baldur’s Gate 3,” a 20-year-old title based on a 50-year-old role-playing game, has already become one of the highest-rated video games of all time.

“This is a very specific niche of game,” admitted Swen Vincke, the CEO of Larian, its developer. “We’ve never been about the money.”

Nonetheless, since Larian released the title in August 2023, the company has been raking in the money. And it has done this with a rare focus on elements like story and character, upending the industry’s conventional wisdom about what it takes to create a blockbuster game.

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  • Breezy@lemmy.world
    2·
    1 year ago

    Its funny thinking about when elden ring came out of no where to be such a huge hit it was the exact opposite, barely any story or character development!